Green Knights Grind Past Monmouth

MONMOUTH, Ill. - St. Norbert College's trademark defense carried the day as the Green Knights topped Monmouth College 62-42 win a Midwest Conference game at Glennie Gym.

The Green Knights, ranked No. 12 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, held their sixth opponent under 50 points this season in improving to 16-3 overall and 12-2 in the MWC. St. Norbert has a three-game lead on the rest of the league with four games to play, and could clinch a share of its first consecutive league titles with a win over Grinnell Saturday.

St. Norbert never trailed, jumping out to an early 8-1 lead in the first three minutes. David Wipperfurth's 3-pointer and Steve Papke's converted and-one on a dunk capped off the early blitz. Wipperfurth's 3-pointer with 5:04 left in the first half but the Green Knights ahead 27-13 but St. Norbert would settle on a 29-17 halftime lead.

The Green Knights held a double-digit lead throughout the second half, and a late 12-0 run broke the game open for a 60-36 lead with 2:41 left to play.

Wipperfurth led all scorers with 18 points, and canned four 3-pointers. He now has 1,025 career points and moved up to 22nd on St. Norbert's career scoring list. Papke added 11 points and Chris Peterson nine points with six rebounds. St. Norbert shot 46.2 percent (24-for-52) from the floor.

Monmouth shot 39 percent (16-for-41) and had only three offensive rebounds in getting outrebounded 35-24. Jake Willis was the only Scot in double figures with 11 points.